Green Mountain Animal Defenders opposes the use of animals as food because whether they are raised for their flesh or by-products like eggs and milk, the animals' physiological and psychological needs are rarely met.

Factory-farmed animals are typically taken away from their mother as newborns. In addition, male chicks and calves not used for veal are simply disposed of as unmarketable by-products. The "lucky" animals are confined in tiny enclosures in which they very often suffer due to illness, overuse of antibiotics and growth hormones, and forced feedings before inevitably being slaughtered.

In addition to the abuses animals undergo while being raised and slaughtered, the farming of animals results in major environmental degradation. Carbon emissions from slaughterhouses and transportation vehicles, cropland used for agricultural feed, and animal waste by-products all contribute to ecosystem pollution. Also, farming animals as food is an inefficient use of resources.

"A meat-heavy diet requires 10 - 20 times as much land as a plant-based diet...even a 10 percent drop in United States meat consumption would make sufficient food available to feed the world's starving millions." - Green Your Diet, Farm Animal Rights Movement

By becoming a vegetarian or vegan you not only pull financial support away from inhumane practices, but reduce the negative environmental effects of meat production and gain health benefits for yourself: